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Maybe I should plan some visits now. Are plastic cutlasses and pirate eye-patches still cool at college dorms? Maybe times have moved on. Maybe I should look for something different. Something cooler. Nah. What's cooler than pirates? They even have songs! Totally going to dress up as a pirate and go kidnap my kiddo for a day. After that, who knows? Do they still sell Wonder Woman under-roos? I bet you can get them on Ebay. Ebay has everything.]]> Events http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry120123-221144 Gertie Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:11:44 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=12&m=01&entry=entry120123-221144 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry120111-215420
Here is hopeful this post finds everyone who reads it enjoying a winter full of good health and happiness. Seems we've made it into 2012 ok, although now I read the Mayan calendar ends the END of 2012, and not the beginning. I'm not sure if the distinction came before or after the world failed to end as we rang in the new year. I guess one thing about it, if they just keep predicting the end of the world, sooner or later someone will probably get it right.

Speaking of things I am rather tired of hearing about, who else does not care what Casey Anthony is doing now? Yeah, yeah, I get that lots of folks don't like she wasn't found guilty and immediately strung up in the courtroom. Over is over, people, it isn't like she's doing so hot as I think the last I heard was she's on probation wherever it is she's at now. Lets just let her finish destroying her life in peace and move on people.

Hm. You'd think after so long of not writing, I would have more to say here. Overall, life is just busy being life for me recently, and I don't think most are even as interested in what that means for me as they are in whatever ol' Casey is up to these days. I'll just leave it with a wish for everyone is enjoying a happy and healthy New Year.]]> News http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry120111-215420 Gertie Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:54:20 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=12&m=01&entry=entry120111-215420 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110926-215135
For anyone wondering, it doesn't seem like physical therapy is quite what people think it is. At least not entirely. What I mean is, I think most people expect it to be hard work and potentially uncomfortable. One of the things I didn't realize is how much of a goal relief from pain is in the process. I have also found the ability of my therapist to target specifics nigh on uncanny. I am not sure I can explain it well, but the degree to which she can specialize each activity around a very small target if she so chooses is no less amazing than if she were able to touch a section of a muscle with a magic wand and make it do exactly as she intends. Since my problem is based in the muscular, she has been able to progress my healing step-by-step as she wishes from this ability to an uncanny degree. Other than that, the most shocking realization for me has been how tiring the seemingly simple exercises she prescribes have proved for me. Despite that, I'm getting better fast. Look out world!]]> Events, Getting in Shape http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110926-215135 Gertie Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:51:35 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=09&entry=entry110926-215135 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110801-111419


If that's Christianity, please don't ever associate me with it was my first thought. Of course, I don't believe Jesus wants anything to do with that, either. What sane person with a heart would? All the same, never call me Christian ever. I don't want anyone anywhere to think I have ever had a thought anything like any of those. From today forward, "Christian" is just another word for "shame" in my book.]]> Events http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110801-111419 Gertie Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:14:19 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=08&entry=entry110801-111419 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110713-134403

It has come to my attention you'd like a car and the freedom to use it. Here are the steps you will need to take.

1. Learn and demonstrate an ability to find your way around town.
2. Learn and demonstrate an ability to drive cross country where necessary on rural roads.
3. Give us advance notice of where you expect to go whenever possible. For a trip to the local grocery, five minutes is sufficient. For a longer trip, say to the next county, generally 24 hours would be the minimum to allow time for any necessary maintenance to be done.
4. Should there be a change of plans, an immediate call to let us know is required. In many cases a simple text message would also suffice. Example: Left for grocery, ran into friend and want to go shopping with them at a nearby shop for half an hour. A text is sufficient unless you were picking up groceries needed for that day's meal. Then please drop the groceries off first, thanks! Example 2: Left for shopping at the mall for an hour. Run into friend and want to go to a movie which starts over an hour hence. Please call. Unless there is something pressing such as homework this should be no problem, but I'd like to make sure you have sufficient funds, etc.
5. It is expected no one will be permitted to drive the Explorer other than yourself or specified adults where necessary.
6. Demonstrate an ability to handle minor maintenance and usage issues. This means you need to demonstrate ability to know the car needs fuel, fuel up the car, clean the windshield, check the lights are working, put air in a tire if needed, and change a tire if required.
7. Demonstrate the maturity to speak responsibly and respectfully with your elders. Responsible, mature, respectful adults do not relay messages through friends or refuse to answer calls. Should an incident of this nature occur during the demonstration process or after full independent use of the car has been earned, keys will be surrendered for a period not to exceed one week at the discretion of the disrespected party or parties.]]> http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110713-134403 Gertie Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:44:03 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=07&entry=entry110713-134403 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110625-200251
We started out our trip by driving into the city on I-75. I don't think any website allows road reviews just yet, but if anyone with the Dallas, Texas road department reads this I would like them to know whomever planned the HOV lanes on Highway 75 obviously never drives. The last HOV lane coming in from the north ends at 635, abandon all hope all ye who actually plan to enter the city. On top of that, it doesn't just end at Loop 635. It carries you OFF THE HIGHWAY! The only choice you have is to follow it as it exits the highway onto the service road. If you're heading for the 635 HOV in one direction, I think that is available down the service road a bit, but if you are continuing on down I-75 you are completely screwed. Your happy tush has to hop on the on ramp bringing you onto the main road at the point of the worst traffic we saw the entire way. It was less stop-and-go several exits north of that where they had two lanes closed due to an accident.

Anyways, we finally managed to get through the hoards of people trying to exit the highway right as we were merging and arrived a bit frazzled. I'd like to give some big, gold stars to the parking people at the Plaza of the Americas / Marriott City Center Hotel parking garage. When all the regular spots proved full, they very kindly suggested we allow them to arrange for us to park in some sort of reserved spot which was available. They did not have to make the extra effort, and we appreciated it.

Due to other arrangements on our end, our party wound up half staying in the Marriott in the Sheraton City Center. The Marriott is located in the Plaza of the Americas and the Sheraton is just a short sky bridge walk further. We found both hotels to be spotlessly clean and staffed by some extremely nice people. Although both were packed with convention attendees, we found ourselves checked in and whisked off to our rooms in no time flat.

Once we were settled and the teens sent off to collect their badges for the convention, the adults in our party took a ramble around the Plaza of the Americas. I wish I had taken down the name, but if you find yourself in the area there are two businesses in the Plaza of the Americas I would encourage you to visit. Both are located on the same level (2nd floor) as the entrance to the Marriott.

One is a little gift shop with the most wonderful assortment of chocolates and all things cute. I had some people I needed to give a sweet thank you for their sweet kindness, so I picked out a handful of chocolates. I wasn't sure what to do about packaging for delivery, but the clerk graciously provided a bag for each person's chocolates and even tied it up with a pretty ribbon. I was just so grateful for the kindness! This shop is located across from the Marriott entry, sort of over the downstairs food court and I think it may have been a pizza place right below.

The other lovely shop in the Plaza of the Americas was a coffee and tea shop on the second floor just down a couple doors from the Marriott entry into the Plaza. They were the first thing opened every morning and they had the most delicious lightly-frosted scones brought in fresh every day. I kept forgetting to ask if they made them or got them delivered, but I guess it didn't really matter. What mattered was they were fresh and lovely with the great coffee served up hot and fresh.

After our brief repast and delivering the chocolates, we strolled over to the Sheraton, where the convention was in full swing. Despite the crowds - the convention had about 20,000 attendees - we found the hallways neat as a pin and plenty of clean cups at each water station. I would say even if you haven't got a convention to bring you to one of these two hotels, if you are planning a weekend in the Dallas Arts district or perhaps a weekend of sightseeing, either of these hotels would suite admirably. Although they are not the cheapest to be had, they've got a secret that might just make them the best bargain ever. The DART trains stop right outside on the street!

None of our group had ever tried the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, but we decided we were game to give it a go now. We'd had a look at the website, which is a complete disaster. Although all members of our party had successfully navigated the public transport in several European countries on the fly, we couldn't make heads or tails of the website. Perhaps if it didn't keep changing the name of the station we'd painstakingly copied exactly from their list of stations to the name of a landmark in the exact opposite direction when we tried to use their route finder tool? Never fear, the maps at the stations were straightforward and easy to use. For less than many quick stops charge for a bottled water, you can hop on a train and lean back to let them do the driving for you. A huge savings now that gas is so high.

We found the trains to be prompt, unexpectedly clean, well-monitored, and a great way to get to practically everything in the downtown area. You can visit the Dealley Plaza where Kennedy was shot, the old red courthouse which is a centerpiece to downtown, all of the art museums, and even the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center using cheap and easy public transport. To top off how excellent this is, there is a cap on the parking fees for the Plaza of the Americas / Marriott parking tower as long as you park your car and don't keep driving out. Considering all the parking in downtown is pretty much pay-to-park, using day passes for public transport becomes a double bargain on top of the gas savings.

The one unfortunate thing we found regarding the trains was how poorly planned the stops further out from downtown were. Although we found we could see our destination from the point the train dropped us off at two different stops, it was clear they wanted to discourage anyone from walking to nearby businesses from the trains. First, the train dropped off in a field back behind a big box store. Where one might have cut across a walkway in the parking lot of said store, a tall fence clearly intended to discourage access to the street of businesses ran all the way from the station to the side street. On top of that, it was not possible to stay on the sidewalk from the station out to the side street sidewalk as the train station sidewalk ended half way out, clearly intending you to go out into the parking lot and get in the vehicle they expected you'd have there. When we walked across the parking lot to the side street, we found there was absolutely no provision for getting to the sidewalk on the side street there. We had to tip toe across the nicely-cropped grass, and may Poseidon help you if it was watering time, as water marks made it clear the sprinklers wet the sidewalk down extensively.

We persevered because we're hard-headed that way, but I wish we could bend the ear of whomever is in charge of the DART development to just ask could they please make provision that some people might actually want to use the trains to get around in place of a car. Perhaps with the current price of gas, someone might deign to take an interest in making the system more useful and usable.

A side note here to those thinking about a visit to Dallas. Please do not let any of my critique dissuade your interest. Although there are a few things about the city, like any interesting place, which could use a bit of improvement, I would say Dallas is an excellent place to spend a bit of time. The people are almost always friendly and helpful. Although it can be quite hot in the depths of summer, most things are kept mercifully cool via air conditioning. The roads have no more snafus than the roads in any other large, metropolitan area, and they are making a big push to update and upgrade the roads as well. Dallas has wonderful museums, a whole bunch of water parks, various kid-friendly activity parks, a great Symphony, and lots of lovely architecture. You never have to go far to see every sort of restaurant, and if you like shopping, you'll think you've reached the Holy Grail of shopping in the northern part of the city.

Although we spent a great deal of our trip within the confines of the Plaza of the Americas and the City Center Sheraton Hotel, we did try to sneak out whenever possible. We had a lovely somewhat late breakfast at a Cindi's NY Deli on our last morning. I was really impressed with the skills of their grill cook. I believe I have mentioned before I like my eggs cooked over medium. For the uninitiated, over medium is a refinement of an over easy egg wherein the skilled grill cook leaves the egg on the grill on each side for just that extra beat which allows the white to cook completely without compromising the qualities of the yolk. The perfectly-cooked over medium egg requires more than just excellent timing, for if the grill is set just a tad too hot, it becomes an impossibility to catch the egg before the outer part of the yolk where it lies against the white has cooked too hard for dipping. My over medium eggs arrived cooked to perfection. Cindi's is definitely moving to the head of the list of places to stop for breakfast after that.

Hm. Looking up I see this post is getting a tad long-winded, so I'll just leave things here until next posting. Take care, all!


]]> Restaurant Review, Restaurant Review http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110625-200251 Gertie Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:02:51 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110625-200251 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110624-224043
As you'd expect, the Collin Street Bakery was full of all sorts of lovely foods making the place smell pretty awesome. They had tables full of freshly made breads and fruitcakes, plus some interesting jars of pickles and preserves. We haven't opened the jar of bread and butter pickles just yet, but they certainly look as though they'll be wonderful. I'm saving them for a relish tray Memorial Day weekend.

We decided to have a meal at the sandwich counter, which turned out to be more interesting than we'd initially expected. First, the signage regarding drinks and what was available for sandwiches was sadly limited. We tried to ask the clerk who took our order about what was available, and to make clear our order, but something about the place really seemed to make communication hard. We'd say clearly what we wanted, and the clerk would hear something else. We'd ask a question, and get only half an answer. We were never quite sure if they couldn't hear the full question, or were just so tired of having to list everything on the menu to each of the many people in the long line they'd given up. Eventually we managed to place somewhat of an order and moved forward to pay.

That was when we got our first hint things were more off than we'd realized. Although we'd clearly ordered bottled water, which we thought the clerk had offered, we got ice water in a drink cup. When questioned, the clerk told us they didn't carry bottled water at all. We then asked for a cappuccino, expecting a cup of hot, coffee-flavored beverage with foamed milk and quite probably sweet. What we received was a latte, which we eventually spied also on the menu. We were never able to locate any sugar to add. We then tried for a lemonade, but found they only served it with strawberries added.

DH finally hunkered down with the iced water and ate the sandwich he received. I can't really say "his sandwich" because he'd ordered the roast beef. We'd barely sat down when an employee came to ask for his second choice as they'd just found they were out of roast beef. It wasn't really too much of a problem since they did still remember to leave the tomatoes he hates off, but on top of the drinks fiasco, it was a tad annoying. The sandwiches were made on the fresh bread the bakery makes, and every part of the sandwich was very fresh.

After we'd eaten, we decided to do a little shopping at the cookies and desserts case. The contents of the case were wonderfully inviting, but again, we found the abilities of the employees to server the patrons hampered by something about the place which just seemed to absorb sounds into nothing. Eventually, by means of gestures, we managed to get our cookies and our pie, and the taste made the effort worthwhile. When it came to the ringing up, it seemed as though the inability to communicate even affected the ability of the young man who'd picked out each of our orders ability to convey to the cashier what to ring. The prices were quite reasonable, considering all the goodies were of absolute top quality. I was especially impressed with the coconut macaroon I nibbled. All in all, I don't know that I'd make a big trip to visit again, but it is certainly worth a stop when passing.]]> Restaurant Review http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110624-224043 Gertie Sat, 25 Jun 2011 03:40:43 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110624-224043 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110505-204812


carrots, fresh oregano, ginger, red bell pepper, baby bok choy, celery, turnip, and taro root. Taro Root is a starchy vegetable root something like a potato



and looks like the picture above when peeled.



I also had the rest of the sauteed onions leftover from the calzones.

That seemed like enough to start, so I cleaned and chopped everything. As I was adding to the pot, I thought of a few other things to add as well. First, I put chopped fresh onion and sausage in the bottom of the pot.



Next, I added the chopped bok choy and red pepper. I remembered a zucchini left over from a salad, so decided to quarter that and chop it in as well. I like zucchini.



Time for the turnip and taro.



Some celery would make it taste nice.



Why not use up those baby potatoes? Just scrub them well and drop them in.



Don't forget the carrots. They help sweeten the pot.



A little white wine for flavor. Just a couple of tablespoons will do.



Some yellow mustard, garlic, and ginger goes in there, too!



Don't forget the last of the fresh Shitaki mushrooms from the Asian market. A shake or two of Italian herb mix will be just the thing, too.



If you haven't guessed by now, just about any vegetable you like is pretty good when added to the pot. You don't have to add all these if you don't like, or you could choose other veggies you prefer.

With all those vegetables in the pot, I began to wonder if there would be enough meat flavor. I took one last look in the fridge. I found the leftover ham from Sunday dinner and some hamburger and tomato sauce left from the calzones. I put it all into the pot along with the leftover caramelized onions, and turned the crock pot to high.



Five hours later when we got home, the pot looked like this.





Some rice and grated Parmesan would make it just perfect. I love my little red rice cooker.



I know I should have taken a picture of one of the bowls when I finished serving up the stew over rice and topped by melt-y Parmesan cheese, but we were so hungery, we gobbled it all up before I had the chance! If you decide to make a sausage stew, let me know in the comments what you put inside. I used the slow cooker because we wouldn't be home to keep an eye on things, but this would be a great meal to make in your solar cooker.]]> Solar Cooker, Recipes, Main Dish http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110505-204812 Gertie Fri, 06 May 2011 01:48:12 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=05&entry=entry110505-204812 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110503-203331


I didn't do a full set of pictures for this because I made it before this challenge began, but the recipe is pretty simple.

Tomato Sauce

2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 Asian eggplant, peeled and sliced
3 garlic cloves
3 fresh basil leaves chopped
leaves from three stems of oregano chopped (about 1 tsp)
leaves from one stem of rosemary chopped (about 1 tsp)
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning herb mix
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake

Saute the onions until they start to caramelize (turn brown without burning - if they burn, they will be bitter).
Add the celery, garlic, eggplant, and freshly chopped herbs and continue to saute until they are fragrant and translucent. Should take about two to three minutes.
Add the artichoke hearts, crushed tomatoes, crushed red pepper flake, and dried Italian seasoning herb mix.
When it comes to a boil, turn the heat to low, and let it simmer with lid offset to release steam for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Shorten time if sauce seems to be getting too thick.

Once the sauce is simmering, time to make the calzones! You can put anything you'd like on a pizza inside, although purists insist it is only a calzone if the sauce is served on the side and not placed in the pocket. I ended up with the sauce on the side because I knew I'd make a huge mess trying to get that sauce inside the pocket. I like my calzones and pizzas saucy. We ended up choosing ground beef, zucchini, black olive, Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella, mushrooms, and caramelized onions for our filling.

First, I sliced up the onions and cleaned some garlic.



Next, I sauteed the onion in a few spritzes of olive oil. I keep olive oil in a cobalt blue glass spritz bottle so I can apply it just where needed and use less. Here is what the onions looked like while they were sauteing.



That nice browning without burning is what you are looking for to bring out the sweetness of your onions. Here are the onions after I set them aside in a bowl.



I sauteed the garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil in the same skillet and poured it all in a little bowl to use to spread over the calzones before placing them into the oven so they would brown nicer. You don't have to do this step, as they will still brown just fine without it. Mostly the garlic oil is for flavor.

I grated some fresh Parmesan using my hand grater, since I only needed a little. Bet some of you didn't know you could buy it in a wedge instead of already grated and half dried out in a can. Don't feel bad, I used to use that stuff, too. The stuff you grate yourself tastes way better!



I browned some ground beef in a skillet. Since we'll be adding caramelized onions and other good stuff to our calzones, I just chopped up a couple of garlic cloves and let that be all the seasoning in the meat.



While the hamburger was cooling and draining in a colander, I chopped up the mushrooms and zucchini,



and drained the water out of the spinach.



I also put my pizza stone in the oven and turned it on to 400 degrees F.



If you are wondering why the spinach looks funny, I was out of fresh, so I just used a bag of frozen spinach I had. You have to squeeze it in your hands to get as much water as possible out, or you'll have a soggy crust on your calzones.

We got a blob of dough from the pizza shop around the corner, but you could also make up any pizza or bread dough recipe you like, or just buy the pre-made pizza crusts in the refrigerator section of your grocery by the biscuits in a can. Here is the first blob of dough.



I ended up using a rolling pin to flatten out the dough. I tried to stretch it over my hands like a pizza crust, but it tended to have thin places and was awkward because they were such small bits of dough.



It worked pretty well, but you have to keep the dough well floured. Here is a picture of the fillings piled on the calzone.



I made this first one a bit too large, but Restil was happy to eat the evidence. As you can see, I've got some of everything in this one.

After Restil was happy with the fillings, I dipped my finger in a little cold water and ran it around the edge on the filling side. I chose to dampen the side where they fillings sat because it also was a chance to make sure no fillings were along that edge as that would make it harder to get a good seal. After I had pinched the edges together, I used a fork to make it pretty and make sure it was tightly shut and spread a little of the garlic-y olive oil over the top.



Here is the calzone going into the oven on the hot pizza stone. You can just grease a cookie sheet and put them all on it before placing it in the oven if you don't have a pizza stone.



Here is a second calzone. I filled it with zucchini, spinach, mushroom, Parmesan, and mozzarella for me.



This is me spreading the garlic-y olive oil on my calzone.



Here is the first calzone just out of the oven,



and here it is with a little of the tomato sauce on the side all ready for Restil to eat.



Here is the last calzone as it came out of the oven.



If you are looking for a good pizza crust recipe, I got this one from a little pizza place that used to operate in a town I used to live in. I don't think anyone will mind since they haven't been in business in so many years, I can't even remember the name of the place.

Pizza Dough

# 1-1/2 cup warm water (about 100 degrees - should not feel very warm or cold to touch)
# 2 Tablespoons Instant/Rapid Rise/Bread Machine yeast
# 1 teaspoon sugar
# 4 cups flour (bread flour is best, but you can use what you like)
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 1 teaspoon milk powder
# 1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix your dry ingredients. You can use your food processor. Just add most of the water and the oil, then pulse it until the dough forms a ball. If the dough seems a little dry, add the last bit of water. You can also just mix it up with your fingers or a wooden spoon.




]]> Main Dish http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110503-203331 Gertie Wed, 04 May 2011 01:33:31 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=05&entry=entry110503-203331 http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110503-202745
If you've got any suggested recipes, or any recipes you'd like to volunteer someone else to try out first, post a link or at least a name in comments. I can't promise I will try every recipe idea someone posts, but I will try to do most of them. The main reason I can't promise to try just because you ask is that I have some picky people in my family. If it was only me, I'd make and try every suggestion, but it really isn't fair to ask my family to try new things and then make them with things I know they aren't fond of. Of course, if a recipe just has something they aren't fond of as a condiment or side, that would be fine.

Well, I am back editing this post because, as you can see, I never really even started the challenge. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but life got in the way. Instead, I'll just keep trying my hardest to do my best, and we'll see where it goes.]]> Announcements, Getting in Shape http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/index.php?entry=entry110503-202745 Gertie Wed, 04 May 2011 01:27:45 GMT http://gertie.drivemeinsane.com/comments.php?y=11&m=05&entry=entry110503-202745